Everyone is aware of the latest medical freak show attraction that is Nadya Suleman - or as I like to call her, Octa-Mom.
That's right, not only does she have the superhuman power to produce eight offspring at once, but she will be attempting the death-defying feat of supporting 14 children (here's the kicker) without a job.
Despite Suleman's sentimental portrayal on NBC's "Today," the first and only news program to interview her, I can't help but feel that this is grotesque exploitation.
In fact, I'll go as far as to say this is one of the most narcissistic acts in the history of motherhood.
Here are the facts:
Suleman is a 33-year-old, unemployed mother of 14 in-vitro-fertilized children. The ages of the six children Suleman had before giving birth to octuplets last month range from 2 to 7 years old.
Suleman paid for her in vitro fertilizations with a $165,000 disability settlement she received after suffering a back injury while working at a state mental hospital.
She currently owes $50,000 in student loans.
Though Suleman has said numerous times that she is not "on welfare," she receives $490 a month in food stamps and Social Security disability payments for three of her original six kids. That figure is likely to go up with her eight new additions.
Suleman announced a week after giving birth to the octuplets that she would be willing to give an interview to the tune of $2 million - suggesting Oprah Winfrey or Diane Sawyer as possible interviewers.
"Today" reported that Suleman did not receive any payment for her interview, as of yet.
According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, by the time the octuplets make it home, the state will likely have paid over $1 million in medical costs.
"I'm providing myself to my children," Suleman said in the "Today" interview. "I'm loving them unconditionally. I'll stop my life for them." m While Suleman's life is at a "stop," the lives of the rest of the tax-paying nation keep moving along.
I'm sorry, Suleman, but it's the state that is "providing" for your children - not you.
The biggest issue, however, is not Suleman's lack of financial stability - thousands of people give birth every day without the financial means to support a child - it's the fact the she was able to repeat fertilization treatment without anyone noticing (or just plain ignoring) her pregnancy addiction.
"All I wanted was children," Suleman said in the "Today" interview. "That's all I wanted in my life. I love children."
Well, I love dogs.
If I was to own 14 dogs in one household, I could certainly be arrested in this country.
The reason would not be because of any lack of love on my part; it would be because the burden of responsibility to provide substantial care for the group equally would be enough to endanger their individual development.
This is the very definition of cruelty to PETA, so why not apply this to Suleman's situation?
I guess the whole purpose to in vitro fertilization is this egotistical belief that everyone deserves the right to procreate. The basic assumption many make is that the world would be a better place if our own DNA strand is passed along.
But in a world that is rapidly getting drained of resources from overpopulation, I think it's time we start focusing on the abuses science enables.
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